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READ and SHARE our platform report card.

Over the course of the election campaign, OCUFA has analysed the three major parties’ platforms to determine where each party stands on important issues affecting the postsecondary education sector.

Our analyses of the Liberal, NDP and PC party platforms examine in detail each party’s position (if they have one) on funding for postsecondary education, faculty hiring, affordability, protecting collective bargaining rights and pensions.

We’ve now created a report card that provides a quick snapshot of what each of the platforms has to say on each of these important issues (read it here). Proposals outlined in the parties’ platforms received grades ranging from A (for the Liberal Party’s commitment on pensions) to F (for the PC Party’s platform as a whole). But there were far too many incompletes across the board, where the parties were silent on pressing issues affecting postsecondary education.

In some cases, the parties provided more detail about where they stand on higher education in their responses to our questionnaire – for example, the Liberal Party clarified that they would increase university funding by one per cent per year for the next three years, and indicated that the four-year tuition framework they put in place capped tuition increases at one per cent above inflation; the NDP indicated support for issues of concern around funding and faculty hiring, but made no firm commitments.

In the final stretch before the election, OCUFA will continue to raise the profile of higher education issues in the campaign and will continue to advocate for policies that will make a real difference to students, their families, and faculty members across Ontario.

For such a lengthy debate on jobs and the economy, all of the Ontario party leaders missed a huge driver of growth for both fields: postsecondary education.

The Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) is disappointed that postsecondary education wasn’t given any time in tonight’s debate despite the sector’s huge economic impact.

“I’m absolutely baffled that Ontario party leaders continue to ignore such an important sector,”said Kate Lawson, president of OCUFA and professor at the University of Waterloo. “To argue about jobs and the economy makes sense. Ignoring a sector that is directly tied to both doesn’t.”

Training, colleges and universities account for $7.3 billion in government expenditure every year. Universities alone enrol nearly 450,000 students and employ more than 17,000 professors and academic librarians.

By ignoring postsecondary education throughout the election, the party leaders are neglecting to respond to key issues in the sector. Ontario currently has the lowest per-student funding and the highest student-faculty ratio in the country.

OCUFA is calling for renewed public investment in higher education. Increased funding is needed to bring per-student funding in line with the national average and to hire additional full-time faculty members to help reduce class sizes, and increase opportunities for student-faculty interaction –important indicators of a high quality university education.

As part of our ongoing election activities, OCUFA has met with experts on issues important to faculty to talk about how these issues will figure into the 2014 provincial election. Videos of these conversations are available under the “Resources” tab of our election webpage.

Professor Glen Jones, Ontario Research Chair in Post-secondary Education Policy and Measurement at the University of Toronto, weighed in on higher education issues in the campaign, noting that “the one thing that Ontario has been missing for […] multiple generations has been a plan for postsecondary education.”

In a series of videos he speaks about what’s at stake in this provincial election.

Tuition policy, funding, and the positioning of higher education as part of knowledge and innovation economy are some of the key issues that the political parties should be responding to in the campaign.

Given how much the government spends on higher education and the important role the sector plays in the social and economic development of the province, it’s important for each of the political parties to articulate their plan for the sector.

One thing that a government could do to support postsecondary education in the province is to develop a real plan for the future of the sector. This is something that Ontario has been missing for far too long.

Higher Education must be recognized as an important element of any “jobs” plan – ensuring we have highly educated labour and socially developed individuals in our society is key to a thriving economy.

Watch the full 4 1/2 min video here:

This election campaign, the focus of the three major parties has been on jobs and the economy. Somewhat disappointingly, the role of higher education as an important economic contributor has not been acknowledged, and the issues and challenges facing our universities have not received adequate attention from any of the parties in their platforms.

Nonetheless, OCUFA has conducted an analysis of the three major parties’ platforms to assess where each of the parties stand on important issues for the higher education sector. Each platform was analyzed according to five key criteria. When it comes to higher education, the ideal platform would:

• Increase per-student funding to bring it in line with the national average, allowing institutions to pursue their core functions – teaching and research – free of financial strain;

• Provide funding to hire adequate faculty to bring the student-faculty ratio in Ontario in line with the national average, while addressing the increasing precarity of academic work;

• Introduce measures to control the cost and ensure the accessibility of high quality higher education for students;

• Protect the collective bargaining rights of faculty and faculty associations across Ontario;

• Provide the legislative space for the university sector to develop pension solutions that will ensure the fairness and long-term sustainability of pension plans in the sector.

In our analysis of the Ontario PC Party platform, we highlight the impact of the party’s proposal to eliminate 100,000 public sector jobs in the university sector, their pledge to eliminate the 30 per cent off tuition grant, as well as their proposals relating to pensions and labour relations.

In our analysis of the Ontario New Democratic Party platform, we acknowledge the positive effect their proposal to freeze tuition would have on the affordability of higher education, but raise concerns that the platform does not allocate adequate funding to compensate universities for lost tuition revenue.

In our analysis of the Ontario Liberal Party platform, we provide an overview of all of the party’s promises relating to higher education and pensions, but note that the real and pressing issue of underfunding is not addressed.

All of the platform analyses are available under the “Resources” tab on the OCUFA election webpage.

As part of our ongoing election activities, OCUFA has met with experts on issues important to faculty to talk about how they will figure into the 2014 provincial election. Videos of these conversations are available under the “Resources” tab of our election webpage.

Professor Larry Savage, Director of the Centre for Labour Studies at Brock University, weighed in on labour issues in the campaign, noting that “everything that can be won at the bargaining table can be lost at the ballot box.”

In a series of videos he speaks about what’s at stake in this provincial election.

The campaign’s focus on jobs and the economy will present the opportunity for labour issues to be addressed.

During the election, professors and academic librarians should be on the lookout for proposals and campaign promises that would undermine the ability of faculty associations to promote their members’ interests through collective bargaining and political action.

Academic freedom, collegial governance, the quality of higher education and the core academic mission of the university can all be seriously affected by the outcome of the election.

Professors and academic librarians should ask their political candidates about their positions on wage freezes in the broader public sector, the right to strike, and labour law reforms.

University underfunding, austerity measures,  program reviews and prioritization processes will continue to be issues that professors and academic librarians will face following the election, regardless of the outcome.

Watch the full 4 1/2 min video here:

OCUFA launched its election website last week with the goal of educating and empowering Ontario voters and highlighting the importance of higher education in the election campaign, while also providing resources to help professors and academic librarians get involved in the election, better understand the issues and platforms, educate others, and vote wisely at the ballot box.

Website features:

Take Action section:

• Allows voters to quickly send a message to party leaders and local candidates asking them to prioritize higher education in this election and to invest in the quality, accessibility and affordability of our universities.

Election Resources:

• An election toolkit to help you get involved locally: organize meetings with local candidates, plan an all-candidates meeting, etc.
• Videos to watch and share that provide expert analysis of issues affecting higher education and labour rights in the election, and advice on what to be watching for and questions to ask candidates.
• In-depth analysis of the party platforms.
• A copy of the higher education questionnaire that OCUFA has distributed to the party leaders.

News:

• A feed of OCUFA’s election-related blog posts.

Additional materials, including party leader responses to the OCUFA questionnaire, will be posted on the website as they become available.

Check back often for the latest news and resources.

The Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) is raising the alarm about the PC party’s election platform with major concerns about the party’s proposal to cut a huge number of education jobs and raise tuition for students and their families.

“The PC proposals will devastate essential public services that Ontarians care about,” said Kate Lawson, President of the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA). “They want to cut 100,000 jobs in health, social services and education. While they would not have the authority to chop jobs in universities, it is not hard to imagine Hudak imposing his cutting ideology through destructive cuts to vital public funding for higher education.”

Currently, Ontario universities have the lowest level of per-student funding in Canada. Further cuts would damage the quality of education received by Ontario’s university students.

The PC platform also proposes scrapping the grant program that reduces tuition fees for lower- and middle-income Ontario students by 30 per cent. Ontario already has the highest tuition fees in Canada, and the PC proposals would likely drive fees even higher.

“The 30 per cent off grant was not a perfect program, but at least it provided some tuition fee relief to Ontario students and their families,” said Lawson. “The PC platform is apparently committed to making students pay more money for less quality.”

OCUFA is also concerned that the PC platform seeks to lower salaries and wages while increasing unstable, part-time work. Their policy proposals would seriously undermine the ability of unions and faculty associations to protect their members and ensure fair pay and reasonable working conditions.

“The PC party platform is a grab bag of regressive policies,” added Lawson. “We are deeply concerned about the kind of Ontario Mr. Hudak wants to create. Professors and academic librarians want a fair, prosperous province that provides opportunities to youth. Sadly, the PC Party does not seem to share that vision.”

OCUFA is the voice of 17,000 university professors and academic librarians in 28 faculty associations across Ontario. On behalf of its members, it is committed to building a high quality and accessible higher education system in the province.

Visit OCUFA’s website here: www.ocufa.on.ca

For more information:

Caitlin Kealey
ocufa_outreach@ocufa.on.ca

613-818-7956

This week, Tim Hudak released details of his plan to drastically cut public sector jobs in Ontario. A study conducted by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives suggests that of the 1,331,000 public sector employees in Ontario, approximately 650,000 would be eligible for cuts according to the PC plan, most of whom are employed in the education and health sectors. This includes the public school system, universities, colleges, trade schools and health services.

While the province does not have control over hiring and budgetary processes at universities, a PC government could force lay-offs through spending cuts. Loss of faculty and staff, coupled with deep cuts, would have a crippling effect on the quality of education at Ontario’s universities.

Cuts to higher education funding would require a huge increase in tuition fees for Ontario students who already pay the highest amount in Canada. The cuts would also increase class sizes for students who already have learn under the worst student-to-faculty ration in Canada.

Cuts elsewhere would be similarly destructive, Privatization of the LCBO and OLG would eliminate 40,000 jobs while 2,000 jobs would likely be cut from the LHINS as Hudak has previously suggested doing. This means just under 60,000 job cuts will most likely occur in the education and health sectors. The average annual salary across the education and health sectors is approximately $77,000 which would equate to $4.6 billion dollars in lost funding if the positions were eliminated. The official Tory platform notes that nearly 10,000 non-teacher positions would be cut in the schools, and average class sizes would increase.

It is worth noting that Mike Harris’ job cuts totaled 44,000 positions. Hudak is proposing to cut twice as many jobs. As the Globe and Mail reported, “this will have an impact, and not just on those whose jobs will be eliminated.” Services, communities, and the economy will suffer.

Universities promote economic growth, not hinder it. The City of Toronto estimates that the University of Toronto has an economic impact of $5.4 billion dollars. The University of Toronto alone creates more revenue than Hudak’s proposed $4.6 billion of job cuts. Cutting public sector spending to higher education will not increase job opportunities or revenue- instead, it will destroy the economic multiplier effect of universities, devastate the next generation of university students, and cripple the research and innovation economy in Ontario.